Emuna Therapy

Anger is a Precious Treasure

Every spiritual affliction and negative character trait, even the traits of anger and resentment contain hidden within them a very precious and beautiful treasure. That treasure is your G-d given Light of  goodness, beauty and your endless treasury of positive traits.

This is how you can break anger or any bad character trait and awaken your infinite treasury of positive traits such as love, mercy, and compassion for others.

Practice the following Emuna Coaching exercise and you'll be ready the next time someone provokes you and you have that urge to retaliate with cruelty:

1.  Close your eyes and take a few very deep breaths and exhale slowly.

2.  Strongly affirm in your heart that there is no power in the world besides for G-d.

3.  With your eyes closed, picture an old beat up treasure chest (like the one above; the old chest is the anger that conceals the Light).

4.  With absolute sincerity, implore G-d to reveal the great inner Light of goodness that's within you.

5. As your anger subsides, you'll have a new awareness of your purpose in this world.

6. Ask G-d to remind you to practice this exercise repeatedly.

7. Thank G-d for reminding you of why you're alive: to be as loving, tolerant and compassionate as possible to everybody, everywhere, always!

Make today the best day ever!

With blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Adapted from: A Guide to Avodas Hashem: A Scent of Eden: Collected Discourses of Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter, pp. 64-65.

 

Live Broadcast Today

photo by: Emmanuel Rigaut

Our sages taught that we should consider everything we do before we do it, suggesting that we must learn to control our thoughts too.  How though, are we supposed to deal with thoughts when they enter our minds so automatically? Is it really possible to control thoughts? What is the Torah's view regarding  the role of memory? How can we ensure that concentration, memory and imagination are working for us rather than against us? These are some of the topics I'll speaking about later today in this week's live broadcast entitled: Your Higher Self.

G-d Willing we'll be broadcasting today's lesson live from the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva in Jerusalem at 5:00 PM Israel time. The broadcast, as well as my lessons posted are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in as follows: 10:00 AM in NY; 7:00 AM in LA and the West Coast, 8:00 AM Denver, 10:00 AM Mexico and Central Daylight; 3:00PM in the UK, 5:00 PM Johannesburg and Capetown, 5:00 PM Israel. G-d willing, we'll try and post a link to the lesson for all those who couldn't see it live by 12:01 AM Monday (Israel time).

If you can't see the broadcast, you might need to download a new version of Flash Media player, which you can do here. We hope you enjoy the broadcast.

With blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

The False God of Anger

photo by jmiller42107

What people crave most is a way out of their dreaded internal conflicts and uncertainty about themselves and their lives. People need the Truth in order to feel resolute in and safe about the decisions they are making and the goals they are pursuing. Without the Truth, they remain vulnerable to the first powerful emotion  and adrenaline release that comes along. They think to themselves:  'Wow this feels so much better. I like the power and control I'm feeling while I yell and scream. I really prefer this to the internal turmoil and self-doubting that I had before.' At once the raging person is convinced he is 'right,' and has found 'the truth' (the Devil's 'truth') after-all, how could such a powerful emotion be wrong?

Have a blessed day,

Dr. Zev Ballen

You're a Star

In this week's video lesson I speak about a common sense way of avoiding costly mistakes and become the shining star that you were created to be. I hope you enjoy it!

With blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

Breathe Abundance!

 

 

                  image credit: Motive - / - Roy M.

A Thought for Today

Do you ever worry that there won't be enough air to breathe? Why not? - because you're sure there is an abundance of air - you're confident that you'll never run short.

So what about G-d? Since He's the One who created the air, all the more so, shouldn't you let go and know that there's enough of Him to count on? Think about this the next time to are feeling a scarcity, deprivation, lacking in your life: is there ever even a moment when Hashem is not filling you and surrounding you? Whenever you need a boost take a deep breath of air and connect to Hashem's infinite presence.

Make today the fullest richest day of your life!

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Weekly Live Broadcast

by Dr. Zev Ballen    

With Hashem's Loving Kindness, we will be broadcasting live today, Wednesday at 5:00pm Israel time from the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva, 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street, Jerusalem.

This week's lesson is entitled, "Spiritual Fitness." 

 You can see it right here. The broadcast, as well as our lessons posted from now on - are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in on time as follows:

10:AM in NY, 7:00 AM in LA and the West Coast, 8:00 AM Denver, 9:00 AM in Mexico and Central Daylight, 3:00 PM in the UK, and 5:00 PM Israel time. If you are not able to watch the lesson live, we will, G-d willing be posting a link to it soon. If you can't see the broadcast, you might need to download a new version of Flash Media player which you can do here. We hope you enjoy the broadcast.

Wishing You Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thinking Outside The Box

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                                                                         Image credit: anji one

Hashem is speaking to each one of us through everything that we perceive in the world and everything that flows within us. If 1000 of us were standing before the same event, there would be 1000 different tailor-made messages in the event for each of us. By attending to Hashem's messages in the constant stream of life we are able to "think outside the box" of our mental limitations, remain happy and receive Divine Illumination. 

Live Broadcast Today

By Dr. Zev Ballen

With Hashem's Loving Kindness, we will be broadcasting live today, Wednesday at 5:00pm Israel time from the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva, 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street, Jerusalem.

 You can see it right here. The broadcast, as well as our lessons posted from now on - are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in on time as follows:

10:AM in NY, 7:00 AM in LA and the West Coast, 8:00 AM Denver, 9:00 AM in Mexico and Central Daylight, 3:00 PM in the UK, and 5:00 PM Israel time. If you are not able to watch the lesson live, we will, G-d willing be posting a link to it soon. If you can't see the broadcast, you might need to download a new version of Flash Media player which you can do here. We hope you enjoy the broadcast.

Wishing You Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

 

The Superiority of Speech

by Dr. Zev Ballen

Before I started speaking to Hashem for an hour-a-day, as Rebbe Nachman of Breslev suggests, I used to sit quietly and meditate without speaking.

It distracted me to speak during meditation.

Rather than bringing me closer to a genuine spiritual experience, speaking seemed to take me further from my goal. For me, speaking and meditating seemed to be two contradictory activities.  My mind associated speech with my ordinary waking state of consciousness. If I was going to get that 'big hit' of G-d I yearned for, I didn't dare speak. 
 
Sometimes I closed my eyes and imagined myself  in a timeless spaceless void; on another occasion I might contemplate the wonders of G-d's creation. On still another occasion, I focused on G-d's power and infinite greatness. 
 
As I continued with these methods, I occasionally 'hit the jack pot' and saw ecstaticly beautiful images.

Unfortunately, these spiritual peaks although genuine and meaningful, were not translating into much personal growth or positive change in my life.
 

I persisted anyway hoping each time to repeat that spiritual 'high' But chasing this experience just kept frustrating me. Unfortunately steady change seemed to call for something else.  

I was about to give up when I found a book that said exactly what I wanted it to say:

Thought is on a higher spiritual plane than speech.

So I kept reaching for that peak experience that would catapult me away from my problems forever.

Nope - It didn't work.

I wondered what led Rebbe Nachman of Breslev to say that we must actually pronounce the words with our lips when meditating? I also wanted to know why he called speaking to G-d in words superior to all other methods of meditation? 
 
Maybe the answer is that hisbodidus is not exactly meditation. In fact, Rebbe Nachman refered to hisbodidus as [personal] prayer; and prayer is a verbal process. 
 
Still, one might ask, if thought is higher than speech why not think our way through the prayers and avoid speech altogether?
 
I asked this question to someone who is well versed in the mystical aspects of the Torah. He told me...Continue right here.

With Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Peak Performers

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen

Lately I've been feeling totally over-programmed like a human computer with too little RAM to accomplish what it needs to do. There seem to be more chores in my schedule than there are hours in a day to get them done.
 
My 'logical' mind tells me that I am either falling behind because there is something wrong with me or because my workload is objectively too large.
 
Not having nursed on the Garden of Emuna as a child my 'natural inclination,' during times of stress, is to compare myself to other people.
 
Like who? 
 
I usually 'like' to compare myself with some idealized superman figure such as Rebbe Noson of Breslev, the main student of Rebbe

Nachman of Breslev.  How was it, I ask myself, that Reb Noson was able to make every second of the day count and he accomplished so much in his lifetime?  How was it that He got up at midnight; that he learned the whole Torah in depth and reviewed it many times; that he wrote volumes of original ideas on Rebbe Nachman's Torahs and volumes of letters to his son; that he was an adviser to many; that he had regular lengthy meetings with Rebbe Nachman; that he prayed for long periods; and that he still had the time and patience to be present when his children returned from school; to sit with them; speak with them; eat with them; pray with them and put them to sleep?
 
The evil inclination is happy with me comparing myself to Rebbe Noson. If I fall into this trap, it is certain to decrease my joy and leave me feeling frustrated and inadequate.  As I strain to  overcome inertia and not fall further behind schedule I become more and more alienated from my family, from myself and from Hashem. 
 
Not good.
 
I grew up thinking that multi-tasking was the only way to go. Boy was I wrong. Not even a computer can multi-task. Only Hashem can multi-task without developing stress-related symptoms.  I confess to you that  life does not go well for me when I try to be Hashem. 
 
Hashem gives us a world of 'freedom' and over-choice to force us to realize our limitations and humbly accept His Will to do one task at a time.  Just try to keep up with every friend, relative and teacher you ever had on facebook - see how long that will last. Good luck being there for your kids and household while your friends from first grade keep calling to you from the other room. It is Crazy! 
 
NO. When I am stressed out, it's a clear sign that I am too involved with myself. My stress can come from thinking that I do not have enough money, honor or pleasure in my life and that if I run short on any of these I will not survive.  My stress can also come from the even more ridiculous game of looking for approval from my evil inclination who is telling me that I'm inadequate and so I am compelled to show him that I am not.
 
All this is so exhausting. It makes you want to sleep.
 
Aye, but Reb Noson hardly slept at all? 
 
Well the chances are good that you and I could also do with less sleep if we retired from fighting with our evil inclinations. Reb Noson simply planned his work and worked his plan in the best way he could and left the rest to Hashem. He made himself deaf to the whispering doubts that attack us all day long. If we would do the same, we would get the same results that he did. That is a promise from Rebbe Nachman himself! 
 
Reb Noson also spared himself the stress of comparing himself to other people. What possible connection could there be between my purpose in life and another person's purpose in life? I do my best when I expect the best. The more I look for the good, the more I find it. The more I believe  I can make Hashem 'happy' the more He shows me that I can. 
 
Tzaddikim have one speed and that's forward - they don't look back. He wakes up in the morning unburdened with yesterday's packages on his shoulders. He likewise has no worries about tomorrow.  He simply prays before acting and thanks Hashem for everything that comes his way. He is flexible and light on his feet because Hashem has freed him from the burden of 'self.'  Hashem sends protection, strength and productivity to those who serve Him and not themselves.  
 
There are no rules for a spiritual peak performer. He has discarded logic and abstains from correlations. He is free from performance anxiety because he will be very satisfied with whatever he is able to achieve. He does not worry about finishing on time or being criticized because he is completely confident that Hashem will help him to do his best.  
 
So practically speaking, is there at least one bit of advice that I can use to 'perform' better when I feel over-programmed? I asked myself this question recently and I remembered what a good friend of mine told me works wonders for him. I tried it on myself and it works like a charm. Continue reading here...

Wishing You Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen